7 days to turn your idea into a real startup – Summary

Quite a few things were achieved in 7 days, according to the Bible. You may not be God, but Dan Norris firmly believes you too can achieve something incredible in just one week: launching your own startup. In The 7 Day Startup he shows you exactly how to do that.

When you find yourself at a crossroads in your life, what are you thinking of?

When you’re dreaming BIG, what’s the first thing that comes into your mind?

STARTING A STARTUP / THE 7 DAY STARTUP

“The vast majority of successful startups are teams not individuals.”

Crossroads situations often reveal new ways for self-improvement, while your temptation to dream big grows. And if your biggest dream is to figure out what the world needs and attempt to provide that, you’ve taken the first step towards launching your startup.

Dan Norris’s The 7 Day Startup: You Don’t Learn Until You Launch is be a viable guide in this journey. As a startup founder himself he definitely knows what he’s talking about.

His road to success wasn’t always straight and smooth; in fact, Norris spent 7 long years learning how to deal with his entrepreneurial failures. But when ambition and self-confidence work together, the result is success. Now Norris is the co-founder of wpcurve.com, an award-winning content marketer, and a goldmine of information on the inherent challenges of launching your startup with limited resources.

His writing is direct and no-nonsense. After all,

“There’s no use complaining about being self-funded and not having resources. Customers don’t care.”

The 7 Day Startup is about:

Cleverly building your startup while pursuing and achieving a set goal at its core.

“To really test whether you can build a business, you have to start building it.”

Doing what must be done to build a long-lasting business that serves its customers, and which ultimately thrives.

“Think in the long term about what asset you are building as a result of actions you complete today.”

Adapting to ever-changing market patterns, needs or desires is often what sets an entrepreneur apart from a wantrepreneur, and this should be the goal.

“Operate in a large market with a unique point of difference that responds to your customers’ pain or pleasure points.”

Take risks and launch, but at the same time listen to your customers and learn from what they have to say. Sometimes your best idea might not be what the market really wants. A product that’s needed and not too ahead of its time should be the focus.

Norris’s book will help you conceptualise the thrill of a startup, the reward of being an entrepreneur and delivering a product the world needs.

He says it best himself: “A local business can’t be a startup without ambitions to take it to the world, and this should make you launch your startup.”

The 7 Day Startup is a map of the journey to becoming an entrepreneur, and Norris is your guide.

Any business should be focused on the value that it can deliver.

Build with only fast profit in mind and you might succeed in the short term. But improve upon your product and you’ll make your mark on your consumers. Laying the groundwork for a lasting relationship with customers is often key. You have to show them that you care, because,

“If you deliver outstanding content for years, you’ll end up with an unbeatable competitive advantage.”

The 7 Day Startup is every bit as cut and dry as you would expect, and is split into 16 main chapters:

My First Business Idea

My First Business

My 7 Day Success

What is a Startup?

Idea, Execution, Hustle

Execution

Hustle

Avoid Failed Validation Techniques

Work More Efficiently

But 7 Days Is Not Long Enough

No Seriously. I Can’t Launch in 7 Days

The 7 Day Startup

Refine Your Business Model

Building a Business That Couldn’t Grow

Building a Business With Growth in its DNA

14 Business Rules To Live By

Being an entrepreneur is far from an easy job. Keeping a business going and delivering valuable products to customers is even harder.

Dan Norris proved through his own work that neither of the above situations is impossible.

At the core of The 7 Day Startup is its main lesson – you can do it too, if you:

Don’t hesitate, and don’t delay.

Grab hold of your idea and launch your business, gradually building it by learning.

Waiting 6 months for the right idea to hopefully come along isn’t the answer. Why not go along with the idea you have right now?

It’s amazing what you can achieve in 7 days.

And above all, what you’ll take away from Norris’s book is the exact opposite of what you’ve been advised your entire life: